


i see your true colors shining through

by bi_lovely



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Bleeding, Love Declarations, M/M, Poe is so whipped, finn is a pure bean, implied skysolo, injuries, inspired by other's work, its sort of soulmate au but like not really, luke is nostalgic, the work its inspired by is but it just didnt rlly hapen, very brief mentions han and leia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 06:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11270022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bi_lovely/pseuds/bi_lovely
Summary: "I believe in the Force — but true love? Soulmates? That must have been an exaggeration."





	i see your true colors shining through

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stitchy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stitchy/gifts), [StarMaple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarMaple/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Prism](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6872869) by [StarMaple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarMaple/pseuds/StarMaple), [stitchy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stitchy/pseuds/stitchy). 



> This is inspired by the BRILLIANT comic written by StarMaple and drawn by stitchy! 
> 
> You can go check out the comic on tumblr where you will be able to find both of their tumblr accounts, or you can check it out on ao3 by clicking that link to it down there! 
> 
> Tumblr: http://stitchyarts.tumblr.com/post/144461384567/story-by-bakingstreetsarah-aka-starmaple-on-ao3
> 
> You don't have to read the comic to understand the story but you REALLY need to go take a look at the comic. It's only 6 pages and it is by far my favorite piece of stormpilot fanart, and possibly my favorite piece of fanart overall ever!

Bright red lasers soared through the air, seeking out their targets. Bodies were dropping to the ground all around, and Poe didn't know what to do. It wasn't the first battle he'd been in, and it wasn't the first time he was watching all of his friends die, not by a long shot. 

 

It shouldn't have been different to him, but  _ Finn _ — he had no idea where  _ Finn _ was.

 

“Okay,” Poe drew in a deep breath. “I can do this,” he told himself before he set off, determined to find his friend ( _ More than a friend,  _ he thought to himself, but maybe that was just wishful thinking) and make sure he was alright. 

 

It didn’t take very long to find Finn. It never did. Poe and Finn seemed to be inexplicably drawn to one another. They were always together, no matter what — two sides of the same coin. 

 

This wasn’t how he wanted to find Finn, though. Not like this;  _ never  _ like this. Because Finn was on the ground, leaning against a tree to stay in an upright position. He had a hand pressed flat against his shoulder and his shoulder was —

 

“ _ Finn. _ ” Poe dropped to his knees at Finn’s side, getting a closer look at the bleeding wound. 

 

“Thank god you’re here.” Finn grinned while Poe pulled Finn’s hand away from the wound to examine it. Finn reached up with his hand that was covered in his own blood and held the side of Poe’s face, painting his cheek crimson. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

 

“Shut up,” Poe said. “You shut up — you stop talking like the right now, understand? You’re  _ not dying. _ ”

 

“I’ve lost too much blood, Poe,” Finn said, shaking his head and sighing. 

 

“No, you haven’t.” Poe sat down, pulled Finn into his arms, applied as much pressure to the wound as he could, and held him close. “You’re going to live, I’m going to make sure of it, okay?”

 

Finn sighed heavily. “Okay.”

 

“We just need to wait out the battle.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“And then you’ll be fine. We’ll get help.”

 

“Poe, you — you need to be prepared for me not to make —”

 

“Shut  _ up. _ ” Poe huffed. 

 

Finn sighed heavily. He relaxed into Poe’s tight embrace and let his eyes slowly slide shut.

 

“Don’t go to sleep.” Poe jerked Finn sharply so that his eyes flew open. “You’ve got to stay with me. Talk to me.”

 

“I don’t have anything to say,” Finn said. 

 

Poe smiled. “I know how you feel. Neither do I.”

 

“Shut up,” Finn laughed weakly. “You always have something to say.”

 

“You’re right,” Poe admitted, nodding slowly. “I get that from my mother, you know. Least, that’s what people who knew her tell me. I don’t remember much about her, just bits and pieces. But I do remember that she loved to talk. She was always talking, always giving her opinion,  _ always  _ had something to say.”

 

“Tell me about her?” Finn requested. “What you remember, I mean.”

 

“Promise you’ll stay with me? Stay awake?” Poe said. 

 

“Promise.” Finn gave a small nod. 

 

“Okay,” Poe said slowly. “I’m watching you.”

 

Finn chuckled. “Okay.”

 

Poe hesitated, listening to everything going on around him. They were hidden well from their enemies, as well as their allies, in the green foliage. Poe felt a terrible wave of guilt wash over him; here he was hiding from the final battle of the war they’d been fighting all these years just because Finn had been shot, just because Finn came before everyone else in  _ his  _ book. It was selfish, he knew. But still, he stayed. 

 

“My mother,” he began, “was a storyteller. And like every good storyteller she swore that every story she told was absolutely true.”

 

Finn tilted his head curiously, intrigued. 

 

“She told me stories of wizards,” Poe said, and he smiled. 

 

Poe knew that somewhere out in the forest of Endor, Rey was seeking out Jedi Master Luke Skywalker who was no doubt defending the Resistance courageously, as he had done in the last war.

 

“Princesses,” Poe said.

 

Never stories about damsels in distress. Oh no, Poe’s mother told him stories about  _ princesses;  _ one in particular, his favorite, was a brave young woman who lost what was dear to her time after time, but she never gave up. Poe’s mother had told him that she never waited around for men to do any job because that princess knew full well that she could do any job  _ herself.  _

 

“Pirates,” Poe said. 

 

Smugglers who secretly had hearts made of gold. 

 

“And far off lands.” Poe smiled at Finn and Finn smiled back at him. “And of course,” Poe added, “true love.”

 

Something happened in Finn’s eyes as those words left Poe’s lips and he tried to shift his body but that only left him hissing in pain. 

 

Poe’s face fell. “Are you okay?” he asked quickly.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Finn replied. “Don’t worry about me.” He smiled but Poe didn’t miss the way his voice shook. “Finish your story. Please.”

 

Poe nodded slowly. He kept his eyes trained on Finn’s face as he began to speak again. “As I got older, I began to notice my mother’s artistic license. The wizard, the princess, and the pirate were all real and I believe in the force  — but true love?”

 

Finn frowned. 

 

“Soulmates?” Poe questioned in a skeptical tone. “That must have been an exaggeration.”

 

Finn hummed.

 

“How’s the pain?” Poe asked. 

 

“I’m  _ fine, _ ” Finn huffed. “Go on.”

 

Poe hesitated for a second time. He knew where he was headed with this, but was it really such a good idea to go there?

 

It could be his last chance. He had to admit to himself that Finn could die out there, in his arms. He was losing blood. Poe had pressure on the wound but they couldn’t know how long it would be before help was able to come; or how long it would be before they could go and seek out help. 

 

Poe squeezed his eyes shut, entirely aware of Finn’s gaze that still bore into him. “My mother always used to say that before she met my father everything was in black and white. And when the world burst into bloom around her, that’s how she knew he was the one.”

 

When he paused again, Finn said, “ _ Yes? _ ”

 

Poe opened his eyes so that he could look down at him.  _ I shouldn’t hide,  _ he thought.  _ I shouldn’t cower. I can’t.  _

 

“But I’ve always seen color,” Poe said. “I can tell blue from green.”

 

Finn was hanging onto Poe’s every word as if it was the oxygen he needed to survive, trying to get impossibly closer to Poe so that he could breathe in everything that was coming out of his mouth. 

 

“When I was young I thought it meant I found my soulmate early.” Poe smiled and chuckled. “That it was flying — that it was the  _ stars. _ When I was older I assumed it had all been a metaphor.”

 

Finn’s eyes were non-stop, moving, looking all over Poe’s face to try and understand where Poe was going with this story of his.

 

“I fell in love once or twice. The world seemed no different,” Poe said, and he looked Finn right in the eyes then and he smiled. “But then I met you.”

 

Finn stared up at him for a long time and Poe couldn’t seem to read his expression, but then suddenly Finn was choking back a sob and reaching up to hold the side of Poe’s face again. 

 

“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” Poe frowned. “Is it the shoulder? Is it hurting you?”

 

“N-no,” Finn said and it was somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “I just — I thought that you might — but  _ gods,  _ I was never sure if you felt the same as I do.”

 

“You —” Poe began but Finn cut him off right away. 

 

“Of  _ course  _ I do!” Finn exclaimed. 

 

“I — I don’t know what to — oh, Finn —”

 

“Finn! Poe! There you two are!” 

 

Finn and Poe looked up in surprise. They’d almost forgotten where they were, in a forest in the middle of a battle. Now Rey was barreling toward them. “Finn, what happened to you?” she sighed. 

 

“I got shot,” Finn said even though  _ that  _ was obvious. 

 

“We need to get him to the nearest ship,” Rey said to Poe with another sigh. “Chewbacca has the Falcon not too far away.”

 

Poe nodded. He and Rey got Finn to his feet.

 

Finn cried out in pain and winced sharply. 

 

“It’s okay, we’ve got you,” Poe said. He did all he could to keep pressure on the wound but the angle was awkward and it only became more difficult as they began to move. 

 

They travelled slowly since they were half-leading half-carrying Finn to the Millennium Falcon. Finn grunted and groaned the whole way as the longer he was upright and moving, the more trouble his shoulder was giving him. 

 

“Almost there,” Poe and Rey both promised him the whole way there.

 

“How’s the Resistance faring?” Poe asked Rey.

 

“Very well,” Rey answered, but apparently that was all she had to say on the matter. She was too focused on getting Finn to safety to give any details on the battle at the moment. 

 

At long last they had Finn aboard the ship and lying on the medical table. They immediately got to work, patching and sewing him up, giving him anything they could find for the pain. Rey put his arm in a sling just as his eyes were beginning to droop as a result of all the medicine. 

 

“You should get back to the fight,” Finn told them sleepily. “Both of you.”

 

“We should.” Poe frowned. 

 

Rey reached out and squeezed Poe’s shoulder. “The battle’s nearly won. Besides, someone should be with him… just in case. Stay.”

 

“Are you sure?” Poe asked. 

 

Rey smiled knowingly. “I promise the battle is almost over. I told you already, we’re doing very well. Stay with Finn.”

 

Poe smiled back at her and nodded. “Thank you, Rey. I’ll see you soon.”

 

“Yes, you will,” Rey said, and with that she was off.

 

Poe sunk down into a chair at Finn’s side. Finn was already fast asleep but Poe just smiled and took Finn’s hand in his own, held it tightly and squeezed. 

 

“He loves me,” he said aloud to himself. It felt surreal to say, impossible to believe, after all of the nights he’d spent imagining what this would feel like. What could it possibly feel like if Poe was lucky enough —  _ blessed  _ enough — for Finn to love him back? Imagination did not live up to reality. 

 

He didn’t know where they would go from here, but for now he was content to hold Finn’s hand while he slept and just smile.

 

***

 

A while later — but not  _ so  _ long — the Millennium Falcon was travelling through hyperspace, piloted by Rey and Chewbacca. Finn was resting. Luke Skywalker was there as well.

 

Poe was alone, for the time being, standing over a basin. He was scrubbing away at the crimson streak Finn had left on his face hours earlier. He’d forgotten it was even there until Luke Skywalker had pointed it out to him.

 

When he’d cleaned the blood from his skin he leaned against the basin and closed his eyes. He was doing his best to keep himself calm. He had no idea what kind of state of mind Finn had been in when he told Poe that he loved him. He’d been shot, he was bleeding, he was  _ dying  _ when he said it. Poe knew all too well that he had to be prepared for Finn’s declaration of love to prove false. 

 

As long as he remained standing over the basin with his eyes squeezed shut, though, it could be real. He knew that it could be real forever in his mind; just as he’d used his imagination in the dead of night to create a scenario where Finn loved him back, he could use his imagination to convince himself that it had all been real when Finn told him he loved him. 

 

Eventually he went back out to the lounge area of the ship, accepting the fact that he’d have to face reality  _ some  _ time so it might as well be now. 

 

Finn was awake and sitting up out in the lounge. He was chatting away with Luke Skywalker. 

 

“You should be resting,” Poe scolded Finn playfully. 

 

“I got bored,” Finn said.

 

Poe rolled his eyes. He sat down next to Finn. “We should talk,” he said softly. 

 

Finn tilted his head. “Yeah, we should.”

 

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Luke said with a small smile as he got to his feet. 

 

“Oh, Master Luke, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean that you should —” Poe began but Luke held up a hand to silence him. 

 

“No worries, my boy, no worries at all,” Luke said. “I think the two of you  _ should  _ talk.”

 

Finn and Poe exchanged a curious glance but nodded to Luke slowly.

 

“You know,” Luke said, “you’re quite a lot like me and a good friend of mine when we were about your age.”

 

Poe and Finn looked to Luke, intrigued. They knew that Luke had lost not only his sister but also his best friend in this war that they’d just brought to its knees; brought to an end at last. Luke’s comment left the young men wondering just how close Luke might have been to that friend at a time, but they knew better than to ask, and anyway, Luke turned and left the lounge. 

 

“So,” Finn said. 

 

“ _ So, _ ” Poe echoed. 

 

“We’re alone.”

 

“We are.”

 

“We can talk.”

 

“Yes.” Poe nodded slowly. “The thing is, I can’t think of a thing to say. I have plenty to say, but I just don’t know — I can’t —”

 

“I understand how you feel,” Finn said. He reached up and squeezed Poe’s shoulder. “May I?”

 

Poe had no idea what Finn was requesting permission to do, but he found himself nodding anyway and then, suddenly, Finn’s mouth was on his. Finn was  _ kissing  _ him and it was an innocent kiss but it was deep and meaningful.

 

Poe was taken aback, absolutely shocked, but thanks heavens even in his bewildered state of mind he had enough sense in him to kiss back. 

 

When Finn pulled away he left Poe gaping at him and the only thing he could think to say to Finn was, “So.”

 

Finn chuckled. “ _ So. _ ”

 

“So, that was — it was good and I — I know what I want to say,” Poe said. “I do. But it’s been so long — ever since we met really — and I just don’t know how to —”

 

Finn cut him off with another kiss, gentle and quicker than the first one. “I love you too.”


End file.
